Connect Laptop to PA?

[Livenoise]

Another vote for the virtualdj software. Lots of flexibility within it.

It will fall foul of a bad sound card though.

[Dave]

Laptop's always worked fine for me, and if not, there're plenty of rock-solid rack-mount file players out there.

 

I'd be interested to know what's available in terms of rackmount file players. I have used Marantz flash recorders (PMD560/70/80) to play tracks, and I know that Tascam have recently launched some, but beyond that I'm not really up to speed on what's out there.

[Joy Welsh]

I have looked at Cdex on their site and can see that it would do the job, and has vorbis which someone else has recommended. Am I right in saying that CDEX does not enable you to control output. Winamp does enable this, as another member suggested to me, to use the Repay Gain, which I have now calculated for all my tracks. I just have not tested it out yet. However, do you have a suggestion here?

 

 

Thanks JOY

 

A concurrent post has been automatically merged from this point on.

 

or you could get a macbook and Qlab. It has lovely fade curves and can trim levels. This has nearly persuaded me to move entirely to computer based playback, only thing missing for me is a great big external USB 'GO' button.

 

Not an immediate solution to my problem, which I think I have now gone someway to resolving with members help; however, my laptop power on/off is playing up so your suggestion may come in handy as will have to buy something to replace it probably sooner rather than later. If the Qlab enables trim levels (control output) then I may well purchase a macbook. Can I ask in what way does a macbook differ from a laptop and can I also ask what you are using exactly as you say "nearly moved to computer based playback"?

 

Thanks to all for their input on my problem and for the many suggestions. I have so learnt a lot from them.

Cheers JOY

[Pete McCrea]

Can I ask in what way does a macbook differ from a laptop **SNIP**

 

It is a Laptop, just with the OS and hardware manufactured by the same company, meaning it is a bit more expensive, but it works. Apple have long been in the 'creative' industries, meaning that they seem to have things like the audio out sorted better. I've yet to come across a PowerBook/MacBook/Macbook Pro with a noisy output, and my machine is over 4 years old, has been round the world with me getting used everyday for 8 hours typically, just working, not requiring the constant fettling the PC's we have seem to need.

 

Sorry.... I'll shut up now. And yes I do Like Apple Products, but I don't get comission!

[Bobbsy]

Well, count me as the first to find a noisy output on a Macbook for you then Pete!

 

A couple of years back a friend vaguely involved in the industry started bragging incessantly about the quality of his Macbook and how he didn't need an external sound card like I did with my IBM Thinkpad.

 

The next time we got together I did some measurements and the Macbook actually had a noise floor about 6dB WORSE than the Thinkpad. On inputs it was even worse again! Maybe my insistance on an external sound card was me just being fussy but it certainly gave Mike the wrong idea about relative quality!

 

I don't do much "fettling" either!

 

Bob

[Andrew Edwards]

...can I also ask what you are using exactly as you say "nearly moved to computer based playback"?

 

I have not been brave enough to stop having cd/minidisc as a backup.

[King_Tom]

if you are looking for new computer, in creative industries it has got to be mac's. I personally use PC at home at Mac in the studio and work. The mac's are a load better, yeah the outputs on the mac books are fantastic, but its because of the headphone optical all in one socket, which is cool, but not the best quality.

 

So an external sound is needed again. but in my opinion it always should be for laptops.

 

Look at professional studios, video editing suites, photo editing suites, anything like that, all macs.

 

Plus they are very stable, rarely (if ever) crash, and most importantly they just look so damn cool!

 

Tom

[Shez]

Plus they are very stable, rarely (if ever) crash, and most importantly they just look so damn cool!

 

PCs can do all of that too; unfortunately most people ruin them by installing windows :)

 

 

It always winds me up when people say PC when what they actually mean is windows - the two are completely different. Likewise with "PC compatible" which usually actually means "windows compatible" - again not the same thing.

</OT mini rant>

[Bobbsy]

Look at professional studios, video editing suites, photo editing suites, anything like that, all macs.

 

 

How many video editing suites have you built? Prior to my retirement a couple of years back I had designed and built something like 40 NLE suites, mainly based around Avid technology but also some of the lesser-known system and all ran happily and reliably on PC hardware.

 

Similarly, BBC radio has standardised on Adobe Audition (formerly Cooledit Pro) for audio editing...and this ONLY runs on PC.

 

The PC vs. Mac argument comes up far too frequently and it's really pretty pointless. the hardware is just a tool and either can do the job, both with individual advantages and disadvantages. Most PC problems people have can be traced to people cluttering up their "work" computers with endless amounts of rubbish.

 

Bob

[johndenim]

Me being daft again but I always thought "PC" stood for personal computer?

[Shez]

Me being daft again but I always thought "PC" stood for personal computer?

It does. Unfortunately, a lot of people confuse it with computer-running-windows. One could argue that a Mac is a PC :)

[mutley]

Returning to the original thread topic...

 

Having connected my laptop (Toshiba Equium) to the FOH sound desk at a well-known UK holiday resort for many months, I just plugged into the 3.5mm headphone jack socket, to a 1/4" jack plug, straight into the line input on the desk. If you're running a mono system, simply make a lead up with the tip (right) and ring (left) of the 3.5mm plug together to the tip of the mono 1/4" plug. If using a stereo rig, a simple 3.5mm to twin phono or twin jack is ok.

 

HOWEVER: I found that although I got *reasonable* sound quality, if I plugged my laptop into the mains, I got a lot of "buzz" from the power supply . Not 50Hz, more like a mix of 100Hz, 1.4kHz, 3KHz, 8kHz, 16kHz... This is because the switch-mode power supplies used in laptop PSUs operate at about 16kHz, which is the most efficient frequency for alternating magnetic flux in iron. That's why you get harmonics of that frequency right down the scale. Unplugging the laptop charger resolves the buzzing, but might not be a viable option if you're running it for a few hours!

 

I also used an external USB 5.1 sound card device with optical in/out, but you still get the buzzing on the line out connector, because it's still electrically connected. As perviously mentioned on this thread, if you have an optical input to the desk, use that. (A cheap cheat for this is to plug the optical into a minidisk deck and press [Rec], even without a disk in, to monitor the minidisc deck's input) :)

 

If you can find a USB to BALANCED audio device, go for that because any power-borne interference should be negated by the balanced signal.

[Dave]

If you can find a USB to BALANCED audio device, go for that because any power-borne interference should be negated by the balanced signal.

I would beg to differ... I've regularly run laptops with an external audio interface (with unbalanced outputs) into DI boxes into mixers. That is effectively an audio interface with a balanced output. I nearly always find that you get noise, due to the previously-mentioned switch mode power supply harmonics on the signal earth which balancing cannot do anything about. Operating the earth lift switch on the DIs breaks this connection and kills the noise.

 

However, take a look here for a USB audio interface (output only) with transformer-isolated floating balanced XLR outputs. I have one of these and it never gives noise.

[thewhirlwind]

If you can find a USB to BALANCED audio device, go for that because any power-borne interference should be negated by the balanced signal.

I would beg to differ... I've regularly run laptops with an external audio interface (with unbalanced outputs) into DI boxes into mixers. That is effectively an audio interface with a balanced output. I nearly always find that you get noise, due to the previously-mentioned switch mode power supply harmonics on the signal earth which balancing cannot do anything about. Operating the earth lift switch on the DIs breaks this connection and kills the noise.

 

However, take a look here for a USB audio interface (output only) with transformer-isolated floating balanced XLR outputs. I have one of these and it never gives noise.

 

Hi

How much is the usb interface and where can you buy them from?